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I've had this limestone cast (?) on my back porch for a while now. I picked it up on a walk below my house, and thought it different than the various other oddities I pick up from time to time. I was wondering if this was perhaps some sort of ammonite cast. Any thoughts? Thank you.

Hi Fossil Forum, I found this centrum last Tuesday (Fort Bend county, TX, Beaumont Formation-Pleistocene) that has an odd hole running straight through the middle of it that I suspect is pathological. While I know isolated vertebra (and partial ones at that) are near impossible to identify, I was curious if anyone had any ideas on possible candidates for an animal it could have come from and what might have potentially caused the pathology. I'd appreciate any feedback you'd care to offer. Dimensions at the widest points are roughly 7.2cm top to bottom, 7.6cm side to side, and 5.5cm front to back. Bottom View Top View Hole from the top Hole from the bottom The hole has cortical(compact) bone on the two opposite sides, cancellous(spongy) bone on the other anterior/posterior(front/back) surfaces and doesn't show any marks that suggest it's been drilled or carved into the bone by burrowing clams or tools. It's roughly circular from the bottom and surprisingly rectangular from the top. Thanks for your time! -Cdiggs

Found this little piece...I think it's enamel...just wanted to be sure. I get fooled by lots of rocks from time to time and this may be no different. And if it is enamel...could it be horse or mammoth? I've found both in the same area.

I’d like for my Post Oak Creek collection identified (specifically the shark teeth), but I can’t find much information online about the species of shark whose teeth are found here (Post Oak Creek in Sherman, Texas). When I HAVE come across general information about the creek and other peoples findings online, there aren’t any pictures of the teeth or nobody else knows exactly what they have. It’s also hard to tell if I’m grouping them correctly, so I apologize if I’m mixing some species together. The longer teeth have very similar characteristics, but greatly differ in size. And the only teeth that I HAVE been able to identify are the ptychodus teeth (not pictured), but only because they’re so unusual in appearance. Excuse the quality of the images. I don’t feel like setting up my camera right now, but I do plan on taking clearer images once I’ve correctly identified each specimen.

This came from the Brad Formation, Palo Pinto County of Texas. It's in the Missouri Series of the Late Pennsylvanian. There seems to be crinulations like you see on crinoid stems but there are nubs poking out in a completely random way in every direction. Some of the surface looks a little like calyx plates but there is no obvious symmetry. It could be part of a holdfast since I am not familiar with them but I have no idea for certain. The scale in millimeters.

Over the month of December, I've gotten the opportunity to check out several sites across the state of Texas. In my fossil interests, I have to admit that I am certainly a bit vertebrate-centric, but that does not mean I will pass up the chance to marvel at a beautiful invertebrate specimen when given the chance. For better or worse, these past four mini hunts have not really delivered on the vertebrate end, but have made up the difference in terms of inverts. I've decided to combine these smaller hunts into one report. For those with invertebrate addictions, I hope this sampler of Texas fossils will meet your medically-necessitated daily dose of invertebrate content. Enjoy! Maastrichtian No Mas Kemp Clay and Corsicana Formation Leading up to my eventual move away from Austin back to DFW, I made sure to visit a nearby site that possessed some Maastrichtian exposures. Back up in Dallas, the nearest exposures of similar age are a bit of a drive, so I wanted to take the opportunity to travel to a convenient spot while I still had a chance. I had previously seen this spot mentioned in some old literature, where it was described as exposing the Kemp Clay at the top of a bluff and Corsicana below. Since I had no prior experience with these formations, I wasn't sure what to expect or what to look for in terms of identifying formations. One Saturday afternoon, I carved out a few hours to take the drive and a brief hike out to the spot. I was excited to finally hunt a stage of the Cretaceous I had never searched before. The landscape was quite dramatic and I could see out for miles. Pictures really do not do the place justice. The drop from the trail to the creek bed is much higher than the picture makes it out to be. After navigating my way down, I was immediately confused by the formation the creek bed was composed of. Perhaps I am just too Ozan-minded, but the shale looked almost indistinguishable from my usual Ozan hunting spots elsewhere in the area. It had that classic bluish grey color and was even filled with rather large Exogyra oysters. I began to wonder if so much time and weathering had passed that the creek had finally reached down to the Ozan far below. However, a closer inspection showed that there were some subtle key differences. The wavy shells of the oysters were not indicative of the species E. ponderosa, but instead of E. costata, which is present in the Corsicana Formation at least according to the paper I had read about the site prior. There was also a pronounced presence of tiny phosphatic bivalves that I had never seen in the Ozan. With this information, I was relieved to know that my goal of collecting in the Maastrichtian could continue without issue. Some leftovers from an earlier fossil hunter. Not all of these are E. costata since they washed down from older strata upstream. With little direction as to where to look first, I decided to plop down and try splitting open some chunks of mudstone that had fallen down from a grey and brown formation at the top of the cliff (Kemp Clay I'm assuming). Initially, I didn't find much, but eventually some invertebrate fossils began showing up. I was intrigued by the presence of the original shell on a few gastropods (I hadn't been to the Whiskey Bridge at this point so this was a first for me). They were ornamented, unlike the steinkerns I had been accustomed to for the entirety of my Cretaceous fossilizing career before. Unfortunately, none of them were preserved well and were more so just crushed messes too fragile to take back. In the same rocks, I came across various bivalves that were fairly nice to look at and ended up keeping an orange 2D one, though I am having a difficult time identifying it. A gastropod with the original shell from the Kemp Clay(?) A flattened bivalve(?) from the Kemp Clay(?). It's about 30 mm across, orange, and has thin red lines between the ribbing. At first, I wondered if it was a smushed trigonia, but I'm doubting that now. Afterwards, I surface collected along the bed and climbed some of the cliff where Corsicana was exposed. There wasn't much in the way of large finds, but getting close to the ground revealed a plethora of smaller finds to be had. The first objects of interest were highly detailed button corals. The closest thing I could find online as an ID was the genus Micrabacia which is known from the Peedee formation (also Maastrichtian). I came across a couple bits of crab claws as well. My vertebrate hopes for ginglymostoma were never fulfilled, sadly. Instead, I found only three sharks teeth that were all missing roots . I don't think they can be identified, but I welcome you all to toss out ideas if you have any. An in situ of what could be a Micrabacia button coral. As I walked along the cliffs, I couldn't help but think about the time period I was traversing through. In the formations beneath me were the Cretaceous layers I had grown so used to. In those days, mosasaurs and dinosaurs dominated the world. It's mind boggling to realize that the strata just above the Kemp Clay was the geological blink of an eye that saw an end to all of it. All those billions of ammonites and not a single one made it through such a barrier. Even something so simple yet prolific like exogyra was put to a complete stop. The Maastrichtian was not a final stand by any means either. That day 66 million years ago may have started just like any other, but ended with the world being permanently changed in a way that is almost unimaginable. Speaking of days ending, the time was 30 minutes till sunset. With the day winding down, I decided to circle back and try splitting some more mudstones from the Kemp Clay in hopes of finding a shark tooth before calling it quits. Rock after rock, I couldn't seem to find anything other than the usual tiny clams and crushed snails. As the light started to dim, I was finally greeted by the sheen of shiny black enamel. It had a strange shape to it, but this being a new place for me, it could have just been a weird shark for all I knew. As I chipped away at the rock, more and more of the specimens figure was revealed. Finally, I realized that all of my labor had been put into exposing a simple enchodus fang, no different from the hundreds I had seen before! And yet, I was still happy with it. After the disappointment of the broken shark teeth from before, it was nice to at last have a complete tooth from the Maastrichtian, no matter how common the animal may be. With that, another stage of the Cretaceous was crossed off the list. Some pics of all of the finds: Strange bivalve, a gastropod, Micrabacia(?) corals, and perhaps a scaphopod? Top row L to R: Crustacean claw bits, and the enchodus (petrosus?) fang. Bottom L to R: Worm tube, and three rootless shark teeth Eocene Escargot Stone City Formation Fast forward about a week, and the time had come for me to pack my things and leave my dorm once and for all. I usually drive straight to Dallas from Austin, but this year things were different. My carless brother started his first semester at A&M, so I volunteered to pick him up on the way home for the break. Being the person that I am, I simply cannot drive all the way out there and NOT visit the world-class site known as the Whiskey Bridge. I made sure to turn in my dorm key early in the morning and head on out for a quick hunt in the Stone City Formation along the Brazos. I was hoping @Jared C could join in the fun, but he unfortunately had a final that same morning . I'm pretty sure passing the class wasn't that important, but I won't hold it against ya . Before making the drive, I had also done a bit of research into which layers yielded the most vertebrate material. Even with the information, however, I still had measured expectations as the Stone City Formation is of course much more famous for its rich invertebrate fauna. The goal for the day was to find some vertebrate material and perhaps a complete cone snail. When I arrived, the place was still covered in mud from the storm a couple days before. With hopes that the popular site had been replenished, I carefully made my way down to the water, passing by a couple of hunters just finishing up their session. The plan was originally to head straight for a productive spot a ways from the bridge, but of course the newness of the place and its fauna had me stopping in my tracks every few steps to pick up a gastropod. When I finally got to the spot, I slowly climbed up the slope to meet the fine hash layers atop the ledge. There is never a dull moment at this locality. Every square inch of surface is covered with bits of white shell. The first oddball that caught my eye was a strange looking piece of coral. Madracis johnsoni Side stepping to the right while hugging the wall of soil led me to my next noteworthy find and the first of the vertebrates! The skinny crown and wrinkling of the enamel was a familiar sight for someone who has collected so many scapanorhynchus teeth in the past. However, it would seem that, for this formation, a sand tiger shark was the more likely ID. I'm guessing this is from Striatolamia macrota. The weathering on it is likely due to prehistoric reworking I would assume. Striatolamia macrota? Not so long after, I sidestepped my way into finding my first ray plate! Unfortunately this one was also in not-so-perfect condition. Myliobatis sp. fragment I couldn't stick around for too long since my brother was waiting for his pickup. I rounded off the trip by filling up a couple bags with fine shell hash matrix for future screening for microfossils. I didn't take too much though, as I have a secret side project involving many bags of micromatrix that is currently occupying most of my micro attention. If I find anything special from the hash, I will be sure to add an update to this topic. Overall, it was a solid first visit to a famous site. I managed to find some vertebrate bits and bobs that I'm happy with. I am a little bummed I never got a complete cone snail, but I guess that will just have to wait for a future outing. Overview of the finds: Top: Dentalium scaphopods Bottom L to R: Striatolamia macrota tooth, Myliobatis ray tooth fragment, reworked Carcharhinus mancinae? tooth, and Conus sauridens fragments Top L to R: Lunulites bouei and Schizorthosecos sp. bryozoans, and Turbinolia pharetra coral. Bottom L to R: Fish otoliths (not sure how/don't want to ID), Balanophyllia desmophyllum, and Madracis johnsoni Top L to R: Weathered Architectonica elaborata?, and probably Venericardia densata that looks strange since it doesn't seem to curve like others. Mid L to R: Anomia ephippioides, Vokesula smithvillensis, Notocorbula texana, and perhaps a worm tube? Bottom L to R: Large Anomia ephippiodes, and a trio of Venericardia densata Top L to R: Athleta petrosus, Ancilla staminea, and Pseudoliva vestusa Bottom L to R: Athleta lisbonensis, Architectonica scrobiculata, and Sinum arctatum Top: Michela trabeatoides Bottom L to R: Protosurcula gabbii, Hesperiturris nodocarinatus, Cochlespira engonata, and Protosurcula gabii though they look different from the one on the left of the row. Top L to R: Distorsio septemdentata, and Latirus moorei Bottom L to R: Mesalia clairbornensis, Turritella nasuta, and Gegania anitquata Phew that was a lot to identify. I'm sure I got plenty wrong, so feel free to correct me on any of these. I will probably find a ton of new species in the micro matrix that I can add in a later update!

Found in a dry rocky creek bed near Leakey Texas. Texas Hill Country.

I’ve decided to post this one separately. Very unusual composition. If you watch the video, you’ll see that light refracts off of tiny crystals in the center of each segment (which I’ve circled in red in another image). It’s hardly noticeable. The specimen is very smooth and rounded. Another member said in a different post of mine that it could possibly be an inoceramid hinge, though my own research resulted in nothing. I can’t find anything online that remotely resembles my specimen (inoceramid or otherwise). I found it at Post Oak Creek in Sherman, Texas. FullSizeRender.MOV

My husband and I like to go on walks along the wooded dirt trails behind our home. Last winter, we stumbled upon a particular stretch of path. It was constructed using refractory bricks smack dab in the middle of the woods. It wasn’t until recently when we decided to revisit the area. One does not simply stumble upon an old brick path in the middle of the woods. It had to have once led somewhere. We did, in fact, find an old stone well nearby. Across from the well, there’s the foundation of a house that’s nothing but rubble. I also found an A&W Root Beer can amongst the rubble. It was the 1968 to 1995 A&W logo. Most of the bricks were branded, but I could hardly make out the wording. The name Louis was clear as day on quite a few of the smaller fragments, but the more intact bricks had lettering that was harder to read. I managed to find a single brick that wasn’t so weathered. I knelt down to read what was branded on it, but this little coral fragment caught my attention. It was wedged between the bricks in the center of the path, almost as if it were placed there intentionally. I don’t see how else it could have gotten there. After further inspection, the coral (a honeycomb coral) appears to be fused to an unidentifiable species of mollusk. Fossilized oysters and clams are common finds in my area, but this is the first fossilized coral I’ve found. FullSizeRender.MOV

After no rain for many months we got a big 13 foot rise last weekend. I was hoping that would wash away all the mud and uncover many great fossils. Unfortunately it was still few and far between. The mud has been halfway washed away, which is halfway to where we want it, but the fossils are still not uncovered. Here are a few of the things i found: A couple decent but small mosasaur verts. Also the in situ shots. Decent fish jaw. Not sure which species though. A cool shell from the grey shale zone. All I ever see are impressions but this came out whole with nacre. 1. Coprolite? People find it all the time but I just don't have an eye for it. However this looks like a dog just had a fresh one on the ground. 2. No idea. Looks like a modern bone but hard as a rock. Maybe it is just rock? 3. Last looks like a fossilized jaw bone but is modern unfossilized non-jaw bone. It is amazing how much it looks like the fish and mosasaur jaw i found earlier. Anyone know what part of the animal this is from?

I was told my last ID was a septarian nodule. There are a bunch of these all near each other and I haven’t cleaned it up much because I don’t know the correct way. If water damages it? Or vinegar damages it?

I haven’t cleaned it up much. Any advice on what to do or what it is? To Me it looks like part of a skull.

As y'all know, I love photographing my fossils almost as much as I love finding them. So of course, I have to do a Year in Review of my best fossil finds! I seem to be averaging about 150 best finds a year....not too shabby methinks! Hope y'all all had a great fossiliferous 2022 and that 2023 is EVEN BETTER

We found these in the Willow Point formation of Wise County Texas. They are in Late Pennsylvanian, Canyon Group limestone found near Lake Bridgeport. My first thought was Girtycoelia sp., a sponge often found in the Jasper Creek formation from the same area but these were too large and not connected together either directly or by the tiny shafts as in Girtyocoelia sp. There are 4, or maybe 5 strings of 3 to 4 beads each and they didn't seem to align with each other. Fossils found nearby were mostly crinoids with a few fenestrate bryozoans. There were also slabs with oscillation ripples and a single Asterosoma impression. Finger for scale.

Hi! This was found near Meridian, Texas, US. The geographical area has a large quantity of limestone rocks and boulders filled with shell fossils. We were exploring a boulder and realized an area was slightly loose, and we pulled out this item that was wedged within the boulder. There is a smallish lake nearby. The boulders were manually placed to block cars from parking on the campsite, though they were likely sourced from the area as there are naturally occurring ones all throughout the park hiking trails. Appreciate any info on what this might or might not be!

This was found in Brazos County, Texas. Someone suggested it could be a gastropod. Any help would be appreciated.

A few months back, I made the decision to permanently deactivate my Facebook and Instagram. Too much drama. The only thing that I miss about social media are my groups. That’s why I’m here. I need to talk about my finds with people who share my love of fossil hunting. What better place than a forum? This one in particular always pops up when I research my finds. I just hope it’s active. It’s all about FaceBook, Instagram, and Twitter nowadays. Nobody uses forums anymore, at least nobody my age... My name is Chelsie. I’m 30. When I was little, I was obsessed with dinosaurs and dreamt of being a paleontologist. Sadly, I ended up in retail management. My hobbies include fossil hunting and rockhounding. I’ve found some pretty interesting, although basic marine finds in my own backyard. For that, I do still count myself lucky. My husband and I have found ammonites, an assortment of shark teeth, a few different oyster species, corals, and beautiful septarian fragments. These are all common finds here in North Texas.

It is around 1.5 inches. Anyone know the species?

My geologist friend found this in a limestone layer of the Bridgeport Shale which some call the Jasper Creek Formation, in Run-Away Bay, Texas. Little else was seen along this stretch of shoreline other than trace fossils. It may be a track-way or possibly a feeding trace.

Sorry this is my first time using Fossil Forum... I have more that is in the surrounding area.. Ill put in a separate discussion...

Here is a small vertebra that I found. It's completely mineralized. It's pretty small. Don't believe it to be horse or cow. Deer is my go to. Just not sure about the triangular shape of the opening and the flatness of the body.

Does anyone know of a good resource for sharks in the Eagle Ford Group. In particular I am working on specimens that came out of the South Bosque Shale and the Condensed Zone below the Atco in Williamson County, Texas. I have a lot of reference material already but have no good faunal lists for vertebrates. PS I have good info on Ptychodus. It's the other sharks and fish I need. I'll try and posts some pics of the specimens as I can.

The brief visit to the second half of the Pawpaw exposure turned out to be a huge success. I didn't think it was possible, but the finds got even better! There wasn't much of a story to be had with accessing the site, so I'll keep things brief and jump straight into the finds. Once I relocated the productive greyish layer, I was already gathering various claw bits left and right. Their bright white coloration really makes them pop out from the ground. However, I didn't let this lead me into lowering the thoroughness of my search. I still took a close look at every pebble and under every rock. The fruit of my labors came when I locked onto the first shark tooth for the site, a small Leptostyrax macrorhiza. I've found one in the past in the Duck Creek, but never in the Pawpaw. Nine times out of ten I would have missed this guy. Just look at how hidden he is in this photo: Leptostyrax macrorhiza hidden beneath a couple pebbles The vertebrate finds continued with a tiny ~1 cm fish jaw fragment. Let me know if you recognize it: Close up with my new stereo microscope! Not too long after, the crustacean finds began to ramp up. Scattered about were fragments of carapaces. It was only a matter of time before the first complete carapace of the day was found. Steorrosia aspera I want to say I continued finding several more that weren't impressive in situ, but amazing after cleaning. One Steorrosia sp. was pretty banged up on the sides, so I couldn't confidently pin an ID. However, I noticed that it had little black dots where the eyes are usually missing in these crab fossils. Well, my Christmas gift came right on time! I placed it under the digital microscope and almost fell out of my chair. This little crab had preserved compound eyes. I'm not sure how rare such a feature is, but it impressed the hell out of me. I should warn that the pics aren't terribly clear since taking photos requires me to press a button on the microscope that shakes the whole thing. Plus, viewing something so small had the device at its absolute maximum magnification. Hopefully you all can spot the pattern on the compound eyes. Underside of the Steorrosia sp. The face of the Steorrosia sp. A close up of one compound eye. Those faint circles are what I interpret to be the individual eyes. Although not from the grey layer I was hunting in, pyritic cephalopods could be found washed out from the red sandstone above. Most are pretty beat up, but I make sure to collect a little bit of each species I can find. I have enough Engonoceras serpintinum as it stands, but I can't help taking a picture when I find a nice one. Engonoceras serpintinum Mantelliceras sp. The first unorthodox find of the day was very clearly a tiny brittle sea star leg. I've always wanted to find starfish parts, so I was super excited to pick this specimen up.... little did I know. Not sure if it possible to ID beyond genus from just a leg segment: Ophiura sp. in situ Close up of same leg From there, I found a couple more very nice carapaces including a MUCH more complete Texicancer renfroae?. Face of the Texicancer renfroae? I hate to say I may have already found a Feldmannia wintoni that surpasses the one I submitted to FotM I need to figure out how to turn off that pesky time stamp on the bottom right. Starting to feel like I'm taking crab mugshots When I got home, I was able to clean up and analyze a couple of enigmatic specimens that had initially given me starfish vibes. After a bit of research, I believe my hunch was right. These two specimens each have one side covered in "spikes". I found a paper (Blake and Reid 1998) on Pawpaw starfish that had similar structures on the oral sides of the arms. Betelgeusia reidi (cool genus name btw) seemed the closest match, but it's a tough call. And to round it off with one of the most legendary finds in my fossil hunting career, a mess of associated brittle sea star chunks including the central disc and several arms fragments. I tried to find more, but these were the only pieces I came up with. It was a massive pain paraloiding this thing together I must admit. There's not much surface area to work with, but it eventually came it alright. Actually looking at it again, I think I put the short arm on upside down, but that will be a headache for another day... The only local brittle star species I know from this period would be Ophiura graysonensis and O. texana. Hard for me to say which it resembles more closely, but I'm leaning towards graysonensis, assuming those exist beyond just the Grayson Marl. The central disc and a couple of arm bits in situ Oral side? Aboral side? It's safe to say this is my most productive hunt yet! Hopefully you all enjoyed reading through this little report. Here is an overview of the finds: Fish jaw section, Leptostyrax macrorhiza, and xiphactinus? tooth fragment (was hoping it was pterosaur ) Crabs of the day L to R: Various Steorrosia, Feldmannia wintoni, Texicancer renfroae?, and Steorrosia reidi? Top: Engonoceras serpintinum Bottom L to R: Mantelliceras sp., Mariella worthensis, Scaphites hilli, and Baculites comanchesnis? Ophiura sp. arm fragment, chunks of Betegeusia reidi?, and a couple of bivalves Thanks for reading!

Hey forum! No long story this time- it was New Years Day and I decided to hit up my special Eagle Ford spot off the beaten path to start the year off. That day was of my most productive creek crawling adventures in this specific spot yet! I’m already focused on pursuing my education goals this year as well. First: I want to show off my new exciting lucky shark tooth hunting shirt! I drew, on digital, “Prehistoric Sharks of Texas” and slapped it onto a tee. The tag is my autograph printed on the back of the neck which feels surreal! The teeth were hand-drawn by me over layers of photos from my own personal shark tooth collection except the Ptychodus occidentalis. I couldn’t NOT post it here! *It’s not yet available to the public- this shirt is the first test run. I thought my fellow Cretaceous & Texas shark hunters here might enjoy this! (Shhhh but there’s one Permian tooth on there! I plan on making an all-Cretaceous shark one too) First Ptychodus of the year! A gorgeous example of a Ptychodus whipplei I kept popping them out of the gravel bar, one after another: Some lovely Scapanorhynchus r. and Cretolamna a. anterior finds as well! This last one is a rather unusual one! Smooth looking piece. I have an idea but any thoughts from those more experienced is most appreciated as I’m still always learning. Haul of Ptychodus from a little under 2 hours- that’s including “walking time.” I wish I had more sunlight to burn! Some other finds: Very neat tumbled marine reptile bones! Baby shark doo-doo! I’m always a sucker for a good goblin! Third favorite shark of all time…literally. Possibly a Scapanorhynchus r. lateral tooth. Has two small accessory cusplets on each side! Interesting enough is that the tooth is very smooth like a Cretolamna. A lot of my other smaller ones however have striations you can see and feel. Super neat & near complete Cretodus crassidens next to a Scapanorhynchus raphiodon anterior! Cretodus is the big bad tooth in the center of my tee! I don’t collect points but this is my first find in this super specific area. I already gave it away to someone I knew wanted it! Unfortunately for them when I found it, it was broken diagonally near the bottom right but they were still ecstatic. BEST FIND: So as soon as I found this, I *immediately* messaged the first & smartest person to mind that I felt the most confident in asking/trusting for a second opinion. We both came to an agreement this looks a lot like a mosasaur tooth! DAYS ago I finally got a Tylosaurus tooth from Ozan (I forgot to add that hunt day to my other thread- opps!) and it looks just too similar for me to think this is a Pachyrhizodus or another predatory fish tooth. The root cavity too makes me think so as a lot of my other mosasaur teeth have that. It screams “marine reptile” at me. If anyone also wants to chime in with thoughts- please do so! Any info to ID species of stray mosasaur teeth, particularly found in the US, would also be very helpful! Im sure someone here could also find that information helpful in the future. I know there’s “facets” and striations to look for in particular species. Additional tooth pictures: Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed Until next time I head back to my prehistoric beach, ya’ll remember to take care & enjoy life. Happy 2023! -Larí R.